New danger to Emergency Services

From Wired: Dangerous Japanese 'Detergent Suicide' Technique Creeps Into U.S.

A suicide technique that mixes household chemicals to produce a deadly hydrogen sulfide gas became a grisly fad in Japan last year. Now it's slowly seeping into the United States over the internet, according to emergency workers, who are alarmed at the potential for innocent causalities.

At least 500 Japanese men, women and children took their lives in the first half of 2008 by following instructions posted on Japanese websites, which describe how to mix bath sulfur with toilet bowl cleaner to create a poisonous gas. One site includes an application to calculate the correct portions of each ingredient based on room volume, along with a PDF download of a ready-made warning sign to alert neighbors and emergency workers to the deadly hazard.

The first sign that the technique was migrating to the United States came in August, when a 23-year-old California man was found dead in his car behind a Pasadena shopping center. The VW Beetle's doors were locked, the windows rolled up and a warning sign had been posted in one of the windows. Police and firefighters evacuated the shopping crew before a hazmat crew in chemical suits extracted the body and began cleaning up the grisly scene.

Then in December, emergency workers responding to a call at Lake Allatoona in Bartow County, Georgia, found a similar scene. Inside the car — along with the body — were two buckets containing a yellow substance. A note on the window said "Caution" and identified the chemical compound by name.

Nobody connected the cases until last month, when a Texas surgeon realized that a new and dangerous suicide method was making the rounds. Dr. Paul Pepe, chief of emergency medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center, warned emergency workers that they could become innocent casualties of the technique if they're not careful. Other experts agree.

That is just crazy but if they were really sane would they be trying to kill themselves?

Kentucky Firefighters who exposed themselves at an Elementary School keep jobs

Firfighters disciplined for recent exposure
City commission overrules staff's recommendation for dismissals

Two members of the Henderson Fire Department have been disciplined for exposing themselves during a fire prevention program at South Heights Elementary School, according to documents obtained under the Kentucky Open Records Act.

Fire Chief Terry Lewis, in memos bringing disciplinary charges against them, said no school children saw anything untoward.
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The bizarre behavior appears to stem from a 2005 movie called "Waiting," which depicts a day in the life of the staff of a fictional restaurant. An integral part of the movie's plot is a game that male staff played in which they exposed themselves to other male staff in order to humiliate them.

First of all the Gleaner needs spell check. Whats a firfighter?

So the hosedraggers have been watching "Waiting" and exposed themselves to each other behind a curtain where the kids did not see it. This is not the firehouse its a school and I cannot imagine anyone else getting away with such things in a school. Way to set an example of behavior to both the hosedraggers and the city commission

Don't stop to help says Cali Supreme Court

California Supreme Court allows good Samaritans to be sued for nonmedical care

The California Supreme Court ruled Thursday that a young woman who pulled a co-worker from a crashed vehicle isn't immune from civil liability because the care she rendered wasn't medical.

The divided high court appeared to signal that rescue efforts are the responsibility of trained professionals. It was also thought to be the first ruling by the court that someone who intervened in an accident in good faith could be sued.

Moral of the story is don't stop just keep going. Not only could you be sued for trying to help but they may just be trying to carjack you.

Both opinions have merit, "but I think the majority has better arguments," said Michael Shapiro, professor of constitutional and bioethics law at USC.

Shapiro said the majority was correct in interpreting that the Legislature meant to shield doctors and other healthcare professionals from being sued for injuries they cause despite acting with "reasonable care," as the law requires.

Noting that he would be reluctant himself to step in to aid a crash victim with potential spinal injuries, Shapiro said the court's message was that emergency care "should be left to medical professionals.

If it was meant to shield "professionals" then it wouldn't be called a Good Samaritan law. Well no shit that an ambulance chaser would be reluctant to offer aid other than a business card.